Newby question - (first of many)

[Langchop]

I think what you are referring to as 'secondary' (second fermenter before bottling) is probably what most refer to as 'priming bucket '.

No need for secondary, but I would recommend a priming bucket to make sure you get an even mix of priming sugar. My view would be to just skip the cold crashing for your first batch, to make the priming calcs easier.

[Treeman]

My view would be to just skip the cold crashing for your first batch, to make the priming calcs easier.

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I need 6 gr suger per liter ??? or so I believe???
Why would skipping cold crash make it easier to calculate??

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Thank you for responses guys, just got back.

[BackOffMyBrew]

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Why would skipping cold crash make it easier to calculate??

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.

Temp at which you prime is key.

Use this

https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

[Treeman]

Temp at which you prime is key.

Use this

https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

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Aaaaaaah!thank you

[Treeman]

As I mentioned, everything is a first for me at moment.
I siphoned of out the bucket, and into a easier container to work with, a clear water container.
The wort is very cloudy and looks like dirty water?
It has no un-pleasnatries in or on it.
It smell like old stale beer, not bad or rotten - pretty much like a men's pub or a glass of beer left on table over night.
It tastes like flat old beer, with a strong bitter end note. It does not create the "uhg thats gross" reaction, nor does it make you wish for more - I assume thats just warm flat beer ??
Do I bottle this brown stuff or wait for it to settle further first?
It is not very appealing to look at.

[BackOffMyBrew]

Prime, bottle and wait 2 weeks. You may yet be surprised

[smitty]

As I mentioned, everything is a first for me at moment.
I siphoned of out the bucket, and into a easier container to work with, a clear water container.
The wort is very cloudy and looks like dirty water?
It has no un-pleasnatries in or on it.
It smell like old stale beer, not bad or rotten - pretty much like a men's pub or a glass of beer left on table over night.
It tastes like flat old beer, with a strong bitter end note. It does not create the "uhg thats gross" reaction, nor does it make you wish for more - I assume thats just warm flat beer ??
Do I bottle this brown stuff or wait for it to settle further first?
It is not very appealing to look at.

Stop fretting. It is not ready yet. :-)

Beer does not have to be clear to taste and smell great. There are a number of ways to get the beer clearer but they mostly revolve around getting the bits in suspension to drop out (e.g., cooling or fining agents) and then not siphoning or pouring the trub into your next step whether that be your fermentation vessel, bottling bucket or bottle.

Keep everything sanitized after the the boil. You do not want accidentally sour beer from a bacterial infection.

Give it time. Green beer (prior to bottle conditioning) really does not taste that great. It needs at least a week, and preferably two, after fermentation has finished. This is also where the bubbles get created from the priming sugar and these will also improve the beer.

[jakeslouw]

Pretty much answered by the old timers, but we cold crash in the primary fermenter then siphon off after a week or so.
Why? Well, the less oxygen you introduce to fermented wort, the better, and while professional breweries have the capability to purge a bright beer tank with CO2 and transfer using CO2 pressurisation of the primary conical, we don't.

It just makes more sense to put your 25L fermenter in a chest freezer for a week..........

[Rocket-Boy]

It just makes more sense to put your 25L fermenter in a chest freezer for a week..........

Surely it would freeze in a chest freezer?
Or are you meaning a freezer with an STC-1000 attached?
I havent cold crashed because the only space I have big enough is a chest freezer but its at -14c so probably not going to work very well.

[jakeslouw]

Surely it would freeze in a chest freezer?
Or are you meaning a freezer with an STC-1000 attached?
I havent cold crashed because the only space I have big enough is a chest freezer but its at -14c so probably not going to work very well.

most modern chest freezers have an adjustable thermostat and beer does not freeze at zero degrees due to the alcohol content

If no thermostat, then yes, an STC1000 with the probe at the bottom of the freezer. Set it to 1 deg C to be safe as the freezer system will have some lag which means you could hit -3 even if the STC has switched it off.